The invention described herein was made in the performance of official duties by an employee of the Department of the Navy and may be manufactured, used, licensed by or for the Government for any governmental purpose without payment of any royalties thereon.
The invention relates generally to resettable mechanisms, and more particularly to a resettable apparatus for use with a trigger that is to be reset after firing.
In some weapon systems, trigger mechanisms are designed to be fired one time only, at which point they are rendered useless. While such xe2x80x9cone timexe2x80x9d trigger-mechanisms serve their purpose in actual use, the training of personnel to use the accompanying weapon system is time consuming and expensive as new trigger mechanisms must be installed/used for each training shot. Thus, in a training scenario, it would be preferable to reset the trigger without compromising the feel of a xe2x80x9cone timexe2x80x9d trigger.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a resettable trigger mechanism.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a resettable trigger mechanism that requires minimal effort in terms of resetting a trigger to a ready-to-fire position.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings.
In accordance with the present invention, a resettable mechanism for use with a trigger that is to be reset to a ready-to-fire position. An activating rod has a first portion slidably mounted in a housing and a second portion extending from the housing. The activating rod has a notch formed in its first portion. A trigger coupled to the second portion is capable of movement between a ready-to-fire position and a fired position. A first spring is coupled between the activating rod and housing for biasing the second portion towards the housing. A reset rod has a first section slidably mounted in the housing and a second section extending from the housing. The reset rod has a cutout portion formed in its first section for slidingly receiving therethrough the first portion of the activating rod. A second spring is coupled between the reset rod and housing for biasing the second section away from the housing. When the trigger is moved from its ready-to-fire position to the fired position, the activating rod is pulled from the housing to align its notch with the cutout portion of the reset rod. At this point, the reset rod moves under the force of the second spring until the reset rod""s cutout portion engages the notch. When the trigger is to be moved from its fired position to the ready-to-fire position, the reset rod is pushed towards the housing to disengage the cutout portion from the notch. At this point, the activating rod is free to move under the force of the first spring such that the trigger returns to its ready-to-fire position.